Revering the Word
Deuteronomy 5 “Shama” the Lord and His Word
Good morning everyone. We this morning are in Deuteronomy chapter 5 and Remember we are on the other side of the Jordan River on the desert side We're about to enter the Promised Land or the Israelites are about to before they get there God is desiring to give them a significant reminder So that they will not forget him and what he's instructed when they enter the Promised Land Today we get a reminder of the Ten Commandments It's really important when we are studying the Old Testament scripture first of all to take it in in context and understand you know what was going on then and Understand that all of the Bible including the Ten Commandments are the foundation of the Bible and Yet when we look to apply the Old Testament, we have to discern what the New Testament said about the Old Our New Testament is built on the foundation of the Old, but it has made changes to the Old We're living in a new agreement a new covenant with God now This is we're discussing a reminder of the Mosaic covenant We are not under the Mosaic covenant any longer. We are now under a new covenant between God and man which Jeremiah prophesied about in the Old Testament, but then it came to fruition through Jesus So it then reinterpets how we apply the Mosaic covenant most is still binding But there have been some changes and today we'll see some of that There's something else that's really significant at the beginning of this chapter is that in ancient Hebrew there are about 8,000 words in English there are about 40,000 words. That's very important and the reason that that's significant is Because they had less words the words they had had broader meaning and it actually is more beautiful and Sometimes ambiguous and I would say in a in a healthy way and we're going to see that Right at the beginning of this passage today So with that, let's get started then Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them so referring back to The the they're actually repeating the time commandments. He says here oh Israel The statutes went and the ordinances which I am speaking today and you're hearing that you may learn them and observe them Carefully the lord our god made a covenant with us at horrib So he's repeating what he did many years prior in the desert. He's repeating to them again Now it began here. Oh, Israel now that word there is shama and Shama Is the word that's translated here hero israel What I when I bring this topic to people before knowing that there's only 8,000 Hebrew words versus english words There's a great way to explain this if I were to tell and all my kids are all older now But say your kids are adolescents and you said hey, I want you to clean your room today and Then later in the day They didn't clean their room and you could say well did you hear me? But you would know that they heard you they just didn't obey Or they didn't listen intently to do what you had to say But they did hear in in the same way shama doesn't mean just to hear It means to hear to listen and obey because they have Less words the words have broader meanings. So we have A very distinct in english with more words difference between here and obey Here is to actually hear you can hear it, but you might not do it Obey would be to do it But shama means to hear listen and obey and it really makes sense as you take in the passage because that's what god is after So hero israel the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking Today in your hearing that you may learn them and observe them carefully The lord our god made a covenant with us at horrib the lord did not make this covenant with our fathers But with us with all those who are alive here today The lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire While I was standing between the lord and you at that time to declare to you the word of the lord For you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain And remember israel was at the base of the mountain and they couldn't go any near and moses went up Unmount cyanide and god spoke to him and gave him these commandments But he did it in a theatrical way. There was thunder and lightning and and fire and You know This way when israel was at the base and they saw these magnificent things happening They not only were afraid, but they knew something very significant was going on And indeed it was god was giving mankind his written law. He was giving mankind his written instructions in in The you know book of exodus where this occurred. This is the first time god is giving written instruction to man What a beautiful gift that is to understand what the lord god desired of his people and verse six, I am the lord your god. He said who brought you out of the land of egypt out of the house of slavery That's through the passover. You shall have no other gods before me The only god that god wants us to worship is him. He wants us not to worship any other gods In fact, he says they're all false. There's only one true god You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on earth beneath or in water under the earth You're not supposed to worship anything but god You're not supposed to make an image make a figure make Anything else that you would pretend to worship you're supposed to worship the lord your god and him alone You shall not worship them or serve them. That's idols for I the lord your god am a jealous god Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me But showing loving kindness to thousands to those who keep me And keep my commandments excuse me those who love me and keep my commandments You know that's really what deuteronomy is about It's about as you head into this promised land i've spoken to you god says i've given you my word And I I want you to honor me and I want you to honor what i've shared with you and it's going to go well with you And it's going to be a blessing to you if you'll just but obey me But if you don't it's not going to go well with you He's makes it very clear And you know when a parent makes something very clear like listen Don't cross the street without looking both ways because you might get hit by a car And it's like oh wow i might get by a car well Yeah, he's the parent's telling you that because The parent loves you and he's trying to teach you what's right and what's wrong So you do what's right and not have the consequences of what is wrong You shall not take the name of the lord your god in vain for the lord will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain and Uh, you know that's something that You know Happens so much today and it's sad people just don't know better Or I don't even know if it's you know better. I think if you said to someone should you take the lord's name in vain They'd say no, but yet, you know as a golfer and playing with, you know secular people Uh, it happens all the time that people are saying, you know geod dammit or Just use the lord's name in Passing in conversation when they're not even really meaning that like they're talking to god They're using it in vain sometimes using it as a swear word and god is saying don't do that Praise god. We can be forgiven through faith in jesus christ, but don't don't do that. Don't take the lord's name in vain verse 12 observe the sabbath day to keep it holy as the lord your God commanded you six days you shall labor and do all your work But the seventh day is a sabbath of the lord your god In it you shall not do any work you or your son or your daughter or Your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle Or your souljourner who stays with you so that your male servant or your female servant may rest as well as you God was trying to give him rest You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of egypt and the lord your god brought you out of there By a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore the lord your god commanded you to observe the sabbath day Now god has a right to change anything that he wants to change And this is one of the things that He did bring about change in the new covenant. It's not that a sabbath is bad. It's not that rusting is bad It's not that giving time to spend time with god to grow in your relationship with his bad. It's all good But the jews ended up making the sabbath Something so stringent with so many rules And they went overboard. In fact, there's 128 pages of written instruction on what it means to do the sabbath properly By it by an ancient jew and it goes from knitting to sowing to Everything it's just and you're not supposed to do anything and they that all of that other written instruction is not In the bible, but they said well based on this we're going to tell man All the things they can't can and can't do on a sabbath. Well in the new testament Uh, the apostle paul said Some people judge one day special sunday judge all alike just be do what you feel is right in your own heart and additionally Jesus rose on the first day of the week on Sunday not saturday and because the christian church Had to break out of judeism and judeism met on saturday's Christianity began meeting on the first day of the week the day that jesus rose from the dead And that's very clear that in the new testament. It was no longer a saturday You know, but it was a sunday, but it was also very clear that they didn't put the rules of the saturday sabbath onto a sunday The apostle paul said let no one judge you based on new moons based on jewish festivals or based on sabbaths Jesus said that the sabbath He's the lord of the sabbath jesus and his disciples picked grain on the sabbath and they were being criticized and And jesus basically said it was okay that they did that on the sabbath Which a jew would say no you couldn't have did that even though jesus was jewish He and the apostle paul brought about changes to the sabbath now It's definitely not wrong and if somebody feels convicted or challenged to want to take a day And not do work to honor god. You can certainly do that and it's an honorable thing But it's not a law today Like it was in the old testament for the various reasons i mentioned and i've i've talked much about this I didn't turn the to the exact passages today. I have many times in the past if you Listen through um this bible with us. I get more specific on it, but i'm not today Honor your father and your mother as the lord your god has commanded you That your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you On a land which the lord your god gives you and there's a phrase that i really want You to see us to see That your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you now in this case It's about honoring your father and mother But that statement that your days may be prolonged and then it may go well with you is echoed throughout this book Over and over and i'm here to tell you That when you honor the word of god and when you honor his guidance life goes better and How luya you'll see that put put it to the test that's not to say that everything's going to go great in your life But i'm telling you As time goes on and and now in my case, you know, uh nearly three decades of following jesus You will see that life goes better when you do it god's ways and i i'm so sure of it i've witnessed it in my own life uh Give give it a shot honor god follow him believe in him and watch how much One of the things this is you just want to have the consequences of so much sin that you had when you lived in sin And that doesn't mean that i'm sinless But i sin a lot less and as a result of that my life goes a lot better plus just having the favor of god in your life You shall not murder now i talked about in the You know, we have to look to the new testament and the new testament understanding of an old testament law like the ten commandments jesus said that to be angry with your brother is to commit murder so in some cases There's been some easy if you want to call it that of the ten commandments like with the sabbath but in in some cases there's been some Emphasis added to what it means and in fact the next one is that same way you shall not commit adultery Obviously that would be sexually promiscuity against your spouse With someone else but jesus said that if you lust after another woman you've committed adultery He does not like pornography in my view. I wish we had no pornography in this world They wish we'd rid ourselves of it. There's nothing good that comes from it and it's it's lost and lust is Adultery and we shouldn't do it. You shall not steal. Well That's true today, right? You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not desire your neighbor's house his field or his male servant Or his female servant his ox or his donkey or anything else that belongs to your your neighbor You know each of us has a different lot in life The sin of comparison is getting involved in what other people have And what you have in comparing and you know, we're not all equal It's not going to all be the same And trust god with what he's given you and don't get involved in coveting anything your neighbor has These words the lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst Of the fire of the cloud and of the thick gloom and with a great voice And he added no more He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me So this was all in the past back in exodus And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was burning with fire You came near to me all the heads of your tribes and your elders You said behold the lord our god has shown us his glory and his greatness And we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire We have seen today that god speaks with man and yet lives Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us if we hear the voice of the lord our god any longer Then we will die for who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living god speaking from the midst of the fire As we have in lived Go near and hear all that the lord our god says then speak to us all that the lord our god speaks to you And we will hear and do it That's a good word. We will hear and do it But the the leaders and the rest of the israel didn't even want to have to come that near it was such a mighty uh God fearing thing to have god speak to him and speak out of a fire from the top of the mountain That only moses was going to hear that instruction and then report it to god And they were going to stay back at the base of the mountain, which is what god Is asked them to do anyways verse 28 the lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me and the lord said to me I have heard The voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you They have done well and all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart. Listen to this. I love this set of verses here Oh that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always That it may be well with them and with their sons forever Oh how I desire that for you or me or my family my children Oh that they had such a heart in them That they would fear me and keep all my commandments always That it may be well with them and their sons forever What a word. I'll tell you what that there verse 29 that there is a word God wants it to go well with you His instruction has guidance Having a proper fear and reverence of god Not not fear so much That you're afraid but like you know when you have a really good father. You don't want to disappoint him And and we don't want to disappoint our god And there is discipline in the lord when we when we get away from him and we sin but he's doing it because he loves us And if you just put honor and fear and revere him and keep his ways, it's going to go well with you hallelujah Go say to them return to your tents But as for you stand here by me This was just summarizing that Moses was the one that was going to stand in the presence of god That I speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them That they may observe them in the land which I give them to possess Oh, that's what deuteronomy is about. Oh when you get to the promised land, would you would you honor me? Would you shaman would you hear? Would you listen? Would you obey what I've taught you? So you shall observe to do just as the lord your god has commanded you You shall not turn aside to the right or to the left just follow god's path hallelujah You shall walk in all the way which the lord your god has commanded you that you may live and that it may be well with you Do you see the emphasis of deuteronomy? When you get to the land honor me obey me that it may go well with you god wants it to go well with you Honor and obey him and you will see that your life will be so much better than it would be Living apart from him hallelujah. Thank you jesus for this promise And that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess hallelujah What a beautiful word god is going to continue to remind us of this and I tell you what if you take deuteronomy in a heart You will learn to revere the word you will learn to live to obey it and you will see the favor of god. God bless you all [BLANK_AUDIO]